Buck

Have worked with 200 on several occasions in 2011 and again in 2014 (Older scheme). As mentioned, she's no hangar queen, at least during those two periods anyway. This image is from 2011, she was a bit lighter than the images you shared. In 2014 she was loaded for bear but again, not as she's configured in the images you've shared. I've not had a chance to work with this year, in the new VFA-213 scheme. HTH a little, A'Hui hou Buck

Heard the same thing from old-timer TC's and gunners as well but personally wasn't on the A3 long enough to really see (or at least recall) a difference. I do remember the A3's Ruby LRF seemed a bit better than that of the Abrams I crewed (M1 & IP-M1), never made it to M1A1 but believe they went from the YAG to CO2 LRF which was "safer" but probably a bit more temperamental. Oh and regarding stowage of our gear, mid-late 80's tanker here, we normally used the tarp to line the bustle rack and then load our seabags (2 per crewmember) and rucks as well as deuce gear. Once loaded up we'd w

Thank you sir, again appreciate all the replies! Mark

Awesome, big MAHALO!!! Very much looking forward to picking up decals that represent the final schemes worn by our Eagles. Beautiful work sir :cheers:/> Mark

Wow, that's really sad to hear. I do hope you manage to get hold of one Brain, that and Disney ease up on their need for more green. Good luck on the quest sir! Mark

Big Mahalo sir, I'm looking forward to seeing your build as well! Mark

Big mahalo Robert Mark

Thanks again all, really appreciate the kind words Mark

Aloha Anthony, Of course, no problem at all! I used Mr. Color lacquers almost exclusively with these two builds, all thinned with Mr.Hobby leveling thinner (about 30/70, paint to thinner ratio). Neither Bandai kit comes with paint reference numbers so I basically followed Fine-mold's instructions. I’ve built most of their kits and have the instructions handy, but you can find them online as well. Here’s a quick rundown of what I used: Vader’s Tie… #74 (Air Superiority Blue) – Overall color, #33 – Black solar panels(?), #13 – Windscreen frame & details Red 2 X-Wing… #315 (Glos

Aloha Anthony, Of course, no problem at all! I used Mr.Color lacquers almost exclusively with these builds, all thinned with Mr.Hobby leveling thinner (about 30/70, paint to thinner ratio). Neither Bandai kit includes paint reference numbers so I followed Fine-Molds instructions. I’ve built most of their kits and have the instructions handy but you can find them online as well. Here’s a quick rundown of what I used: Vader’s Tie… #74(Air Superiority Blue)– Overall color, #33 – Black solar panels(?), #13 – Windscreen frame & details Red 2 X-Wing… #315( Gloss Gull Gray) – Overal

Looks great, nice presentation as well Ahui hou Mark

Aloha all, Changing gears again, finished up another recent release from the relatively new company Takom. It's hard to gauge the size of this kit but it is quite impressive, apparently a real world Zwilling battery weighed in at 20+ tons. Took a couple of weeks to complete this kit and was a pretty challenging build. It's built straight out of the box with one minor change, I swapped the kit RblF32 mounts with covered examples nicked from a couple of DML Flak 36 kits. The biggest issue with the build was aligning the 5 piece barrel for each gun, then aligning the two guns within the

Not really Anthony, it builds beautifully & quickly. Sequence of assembly is pretty important as many of the parts interlock or are secured by other assemblies. I skipped a few steps to facilitate painting and played hell trying to get the rear portion of the canopy frame installed. The kit breakdown makes it a breeze to paint and weather as well. A very well executed kit. Thanks again all, definitely give these Bandai kits a go! Ahui hou, Mark

Aloha all & many thanks! Always appreciated & motivating as well :cheers:/> Actually looking at working on a couple of older Fine Mold kits that have been collecting dust for the last few years ;)/> Ahui hou Mark

The X-Wing is Bandai's 48th scale "Moving" edition, but the Tie is only 72nd. I'd love to see Vader's Tie & the Y-Wing in 48th as well ;)/> 100% concur on larger scale Star Wars kits someday!!! Big mahalo for the kind words all, hope to finish a couple of old Fine Molds kits that have been sitting for the last few years. Mark

Aloha All, It's been a few years since finishing anything but it sure feels good to finally knock something out ;)/> When I saw Bandai's new line of Star Wars kits I just HAD to give at least two of them a try... Love'm, really great kits! Both were built straight of the box, Vader's Tie completed over a couple of nights and the X-wing took about a week. No issues, panel lines are a little heavy, but aside from that just enjoyable builds. Assembly sequence is pretty important, as I found out the hard way, but that self-induced problem was quickly remedied with an Xacto & some "c

Howzit Pigsty, On our jet the lever that raises & lowers all 4 spoilers simultaneously is actually labeled "Speed Brake". Pretty sure most fast-movers have similar labeling on their throttle grip, I know the Viper does... Think it's SPD BRK or something similar ;) HTH Mark

Hope this helps a little... F-15E joining up on us, board on it's way up (at this point) and inlets down slightly and more or less in-line with airflow I'm guessing (and whatever else the AIC is using ;)/>/> ) Airspeed, in the neighborhood of 300KIAS (+/- the odd knot or two). Ahui hou :cheers:/>/> Mark

Not trying to call you out but trying to figure out what I'm seeing here... Most of the F-14's I've worked with have the same greenish blue center pane (Though I don't recall noticing it on the Delta T-Cats). Same goes for the F-4's (a mix of USN, USAF, & German). As far as Mig's go I've only seen abandoned & museum examples, most of which had badly discolored glazing. Anyway here's the image, it's old and shot with an early digital cam. We were between two decks as well so it's not a reflection of our bird or the sky: If there's a thread that covers this please give me a good

Was gonna stay out of this but to clarify for Antonov... KC-135, Boing model 717-100... Predecessor to the 707 Boeing model 707, the civilian derivative of the KC-135. As Jennings stated they look similar but are VERY different aircraft with only some interchangeable components. Fuselage is wider & a different cross-section, wing has more are and quite different compared to the 135. A sad time in our small community, RIP to the crew and thoughts & prayers for all those impacted by their loss Mark

Aloha All, Just a heads-up on at least one place that carries models in Pattaya City, Thailand... Pattaya's Central department store (located in the Central Festival Mall) has a very nice selection of kits & supplies. They stock mostly Academy but also carry Tamiya, AFV Club, Italeri, and a sprinkling of other kit manufactures. Again they also carrie tools & paint, all of which are Japanese in origin (Mr.Hobby & Tamiya). Depending on the exchange rate, one can pick up some pretty sweet deals on kits there. Additionally, they often run promotions for even more savings on s

Mahalo gents, really appreciate the kind words!!! Again I apologize for posting this in the wrong section... I'm rediscovering the forum ;) Mahalo ahui hou Mark

Big thank you gents, appreciate the feedback and kind words of encouragement! 11Bee, I couldn't tell ya if they were camo'd before delivery, I'm guessing they showed up in shipping caskets, probably in period green paint & then camo'd up by their new owners. I've seen pictures of missiles with camo patterns that flow onto the wings, fins, & canards, as if they were painted after assembly but I've also seen pictures of missiles where the pattern didn't seem to match up, as if everything was painted separately... So it's really hard to say when they received the big green splotches,

Big thank you gents, appreciate the feedback & comps Collin, I really like these panel-line accent products, yeah you could mix your own, but the pigment seems to be much more fine then the paints I've thinned in the past. It flows quite well over gloss, semi-gloss, and even flat finishes (though you still get some bleed over on flat finishes). Once dry, which takes about 5 minutes, you can easily clean up any bleed over with mineral spirits or something similar (Tamiya recommends their X20 thinner but I've used Testors airbrush thinner as well). So far I've tried both their brown &

Oops... Can one of the admins move this to the armor section where it should be??? Thanks & sorry for the trouble Mark